


rattle the stars

by heliosjongho



Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Alternate Universe - Treasure Planet Fusion, Captain Kim Hongjoong, Choi Jongho-centric, Fluff, I cried writing this, Kisses, M/M, Mentioned Bangtan Boys | BTS Ensemble, Mentioned Kim Namjoon | RM, Space Pirates, Stargazing, beta'd so hard istg, cyborg!hongjoong, hand holding, jongho needs a hug, jongjoong tag is dry asf im here to feed it, lots of hugging, my best boys, they're so sweet :(
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-03
Updated: 2020-09-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:07:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,816
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26271616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heliosjongho/pseuds/heliosjongho
Summary: “you’re gonna rattle the stars, my boy.”or the jongjoong au based on treasure planet where jongho just needs love and hongjoong is there to give him exactly that, as they stargaze while sailing through space.
Relationships: Choi Jongho/Kim Hongjoong
Comments: 3
Kudos: 18





	rattle the stars

“We are all travelers in the wilderness of this world, and the best we can find in our travels is an honest friend.” – Robert Louis Stevenson

  
  


there are nights when the winds of the etherium, so inviting in their promise of flight and freedom, made one’s spirit soar. it’s a known truth between the pirate scene just as the endless vastness of space. 

the etherium.

the infamous pirate ship that has, in the last few 150 years, been merely considered a myth or fantasy rather than something that truly existed, many millennnia ago. it’s told in many forms, in many planets, in many galaxies. perhaps the most accurate; albeit most famous version, resided in the planet Montressor. the fable tells of the legendary pirate captain kim namjoon and his crew of 6 other pirates just as fictitious (or so everyone thinks) but as well known as him. the notorious captain was not the best saint, nor man in the world, and his crew of renegades, ranging from humans, to cyborgs, to animal hybrids, were not as well. but, although he was feared by every pirate who saw his ship sail by, the Captain was respected for not causing any harm even on his worst enemies. never did he do foul play; including crimes and bloodshed. they just swooped in out of nowhere in every one of the pirate ships they encountered, gathered all the loot, and then disappeared without a trace. 

however, it appeared that in the tales, he truly vanished like a ghost.

no one knew where namjoon or his hidden trove was located, even to this day. as mentioned, he seemed to only exist in the pages and illustrations of a simple book. every pirate who claims to have seen him have either been confirmed to be frauds, passed away, or were straight up insane. nowadays, adults think a person like him didn’t exist, but to all the children everywhere around the expansive universe, the captain and his crew were as real as they could get.

despite the fact that the fabled captain couldn’t have possibly existed after all, stories persisted that all the treasure he scavenged remained hidden, somewhere at the farthest reaches of the galaxy, stowed with riches beyond imagination, the loot of a thousand worlds. a heavenly body considered the captain’s home.

treasure planet.

is it a legend, or is it real?

so you must thinking, that’s why you’re here right? because you also want to find out if this treasure planet is more than just myth, right?

well, I’m afraid that’s not what this story is about.

this story is about pirates, yes, but it’s a friendship story. it’s the story of how our protagonist found hope in a figure who’s probably the only thing he needed by his side all this time, it’s the story of how maybe finding each other was more because of destiny than inoppportune luck. maybe, they were meant to be.

this story is for you, for you to know that you’re never alone, you can do wonderful things, and you are you and that’s all that matters. you’re strong, you’re brave, you’re unstoppable. I’m here to tell you why.

let me tell you the story of the _Aurora_ ship and its two beautiful beings becoming something more thanks to each other.

let me tell you of a boy named choi jongho and his protector and soulmate kim hongjoong.

✦ ★ ☆ ✰ ✮ ✯

  
  
  
  


the best way to start a pirate story would be with a scene of the captain standing on the deck of their ship, looking out at the horizon. to add a bit of flair, make it a sunset –nothing is more poetic than being lost in thought while staring at the sun slowly go down as the night comes. it would start the story with a sense of serenity, of steadiness, the calm before the storm.

this pirate story, however, doesn’t start this way; remember this is a different kind of pirate story. this pirate story doesn’t start with the captain looking out at the horizon.

there are no horizons in space.

jongho has grown awfully familiar to it. him and the _Aurora_ haven’t seen a horizon since it feels like centuries ago.

jongho hasn’t seen the soil and dirt of the ground, his city, civilization, _horizons,_ ever since he’s boarded the ship that belonged to kim hongjoong.

it all starts with jongho, sitting upside down on the biggest mast of the pirate ship floating through space, idling around the endless vast of space, passing through the blue rings of neptune, wrapping jongho in a hue of beautiful blue colours, like the aliens that sometimes visited his inn back in Montressor.

he remembered exactly how he met kim hongjoong.

that attractive man, with his prominent cyborg eye that always seeming to glint like gold in the sunlight, his robotic, prosthetic arm abundant in wires and complicated gears so that it may function properly. the cyborg captain was known in some planets, and opinions on him were varied, –mostly they were about his accent– and jongho saw why. the young man was straightforward and full of himself, accent and voice thick with the remains of a true pirate in his soul. as soon as he approached the guarded boy, as jongho stared, unmoving, at the biggest ship he had ever laid eyes upon. in spite of all the stories about pirates he’s read since he was a toddler, reality was far better than fiction in that one instant.

jongho remembered that laugh. that voice. those words that led him here.

_“what say ship out with me, lad? you and me, without not a worry in th’ world. who knows, boy, your life might be changed once we find it.”_

the treasure.

people want it.

people have looked for it.

but still, it’s always remained a folk tale.

jongho knows it all too well, because the fabled planet has never appeared in any map of the entire expansive universe.

his mum always used to say that, if a map seems to be taking you nowhere, it needs to be analyzed from another perspective. she also used to say that being upside down makes your blood rush to your brain, which leads to headaches, –whom jongho was never a fan of, yet here he was laying upside down– but therefore it still works better and helps you think. right now, he’s combining those two pieces of advice into one, and hopes his mother is proud.

although jongho isn’t sure if she is anymore.

jongho, who likes to wear jackets in the hottest days, singing and dancing alone in his quarters when no one listens, wearing a small ponytail, and one day hopes to do something to feel proud of, knows his mother has never been proud of him. even when he’s on an old scavenged ship piloted by the captain (the one in question that jongho can see via his peripheral vision from his position) and is currently looking for the most searched item in the whole galaxy.

jongho just wishes he could feel less like a question to the world, and more like someone with a purpose in this universe.

  
knowing who you are and coming to terms with it is one thing. actually getting to _be_ who you truly are without fear and loving yourself is a whole other, much harder thing. all his life, as far as he could remember, jongho had always known two things about himself with absolute intuitive certainty: that he never had a father or rather someone to love, and that he was a walking human disaster. Even without being consciously aware that his father had left him and moved away from his life forever, he’s always had a resentful heart, covered in thorns that occasionally stabbed him deep inside, and he realized that the rest of the world didn’t know him. he hated that, hated himself.

until he decided he didn’t want to live that way anymore.

it’s taken a lot of getting used to, but jongho wanted to make an attempt to better himself, show hongjoong and himself that he was capable of anything.

that is until they had to distract a band of scavengers so they could both potentially fuel up the _Aurora_ with enough crystals and run to a safer place where they couldn’t be chased any time soon. thankfully, hongjoong didn’t scold the boy, but jongho knew better. he was a fucked up. he almost got them killed.

which led to him currently brooding on the mast of the ship, staring at the vast and endless sky of stars, each and every one of them containing a person and a story in their core.

jongho wondered how easy it would be to exist as simple stardust.

he heard footsteps moving through the creaking wood, and took a peek at the captain staring out into space, seemingly without a care in the world. jongho could almost guess he was pretending he wasn’t here.

he scoffed and sat up straight, his headache present immediately but honestly jongho couldn’t give two fucks right now.

joong glanced up at the boy, and his human heart felt like shattering into pieces. he’s never been good at conveying emotions, people have gone as far as to call him a sociopath, but when it all came to jongho, everything he’d known vanishes and its only him he wants to focus on.

hongjoong wants to love jongho.

sighing, the cyborg spoke, hoping his word would reach beyond the stubborn shell the boy has confined himself in. “it wasn’t your fault, you know? ye jus’ wanted to keep us safe and prove yerself worthy. look on the bright side,” he attempted a smile. “those fuckers are now lost probably in some black abyss-”

jongho couldn’t take it anymore. he screamed. _shut up. I almost killed us both._

sliding off the mast and onto the center of the ship, he lashed out. “don’t you get it?? I screwed up!” jongho yelled, making sure hongjoong was staring straight at him, his face morphed into that of a broken boy who just wanted to feel accepted. “for 2 seconds, I thought I could do something right, I thought I could change myself into a better person, I thought if I could prove myself worthy…” his voice broke, and jongho turned away from the other. he couldn’t put up with hongjoong seeing him cry.

“forget it, just… forget it.”

how jongho wished to disappear from the entire galaxy forever and never be seen or heard from again.

hongjoong, on the other hand, was not about to stand there and watch jongho cry for eternity. the poor boy has been through so much; he sympathises with the other. when the world turns your back on you, you turn your back to the world. that’s something he’d learned a long long time ago from an old friend. a friend that he hoped every night was watching over him and giving him the strength he needed to get through every single exhausting day. joong smiled a little as the littlest thoughts passed through his head. he was a human ripped from two of his limbs and eye, he was a pirate with people’s misconceptions scarred deep in his heart, but above all, he was no monster.

the light touch of a human hand on his shoulder sent jongho’s insides into overdrive, and he was trying his damnest not to cry as the captain made the boy stare at him. despite his kind eyes (or at least one of them) jongho felt intimidated by his presence.

“now,” he began. “you listen to me, choi jongho.” jong felt the tears threatening to fall. hongjoong’s eyes that showed a million galaxies in them, a kind smile on his face, and a subtle robotic hand holding jongho’s human one were enough for him to fall in love. “you’ve got the makings of greatness in you, but you’ve got to take the helm and chart your own course. stick to it no matter what, no matter what people may want to say about ya. and when the time comes you’ll really get the chance to test the cut of your sails and show ‘em what you’re made of, I hope I’m there and catching some of the light coming off you that day.”

jongho was speechless.

for the first time in his life, he was wordless, silent. he just stood there, reflecting on the other’s speech. did hongjoong really just say that to him? to him of all people? why? jongho was nothing. and yet… those words reached him beyond anything he’s ever known in his 19 years of living. those words… god, they’re everything jongho needed to hear after so _so_ long. he’s always felt like a mistake in the world, he’s never felt like someone who belonged in his planet, or the universe. he’s never had a father in his life when jongho needed one most. most of the reason he’s always been anxious and angry at everyone was because he never loved anyone, his mum never loved him, and so he never learned to love himself in return. and up until now, in a strange way, jongho feels alive like never before, he feels so full of life, he feels love, he feels worth in this world, he feels like he belongs.

jongho feels like he belongs thanks to hongjoong.

the one he least expected the tiniest bit to be this kind to him, this inspiring, made jongho’s heart flutter. he felt so worthy and loved this instant after so many years filled with nothing but loneliness.

at long last, he broke down in tears and plopped his head on hongjoong’s shoulder. joong stared for a moment at jongho in shock, and he felt his body light up with an odd sensation of calmness and happiness. “jjongie.” he whispered. his arms engulfed the tiny boy in a warm hug, and although jongho was shaking, the feeling of metal against flesh holding him so close like this under the cold starry void of space, he felt so pleasant in joong’s arms. in that moment, nothing else seemed to matter. just both of them, embracing one another impossibly close.

what jongho had thought to be tears of frustration and sadness soon enough turned into the happiest tears he’s shed.

hongjoong too, was crying. he was crying because the lack of words were enough for him. somehow, he’s made jongho’s worth in the world seem so valid, and he’s made him see it through all the insecurities weighing him down.

both had found happiness in the most unexpected way; happiness was one loving the other for eternity.

their love may be as eternal as the stars.

after a while, hong pulled away from the hug in the slightest, and wiped jong’s tears. the smile on his face was impossibly wide.

“look at you, shining like a solar flare.” he said softly, holding jongho’s face. the feeling of his face against his robotic arm felt so right and warm. “you’re going to rattle the stars, my boy.”

giggling to himself, jongho swears he fell more in love that instant.

hongjoong giggled too.

“wanna go gaze at the stars with me?” jongho asked shyly, hiding his blushing face from the other.

and who was hongjoong to say no?

stargazing with hongjoong felt like a dream to jongho. he remembers how he would sneak to the rooftop just to wonder at the stars, wishing to be seen as something other than invisible to the world. he never realized how much more magical it would feel like in someone’s arms.

in the lonely, endless chasm of space, under a thousand stars and constellations shining down on them like a spotlight, as if wanting the world to _finally_ notice what both individuals had become, they held each other for the longest time. raising his head a little, jongho looked over at hongjoong only to find the other staring at him with the sweetest smile on his face, his eyes still sparkling with galaxies in them. jongho smiled back at him, and leaned the other’s head down so he could kiss him for eternity. he will get back to the real world soon. for now, he just wanted to be in the moment.

it wasn’t going to be easy starting over with hongjoong at his side, then again, when had anything in his life been easy? even so, no matter what the world threw at him, or his love, jongho had proven himself stronger than he thought he was.

right there, jongho felt the walls of his heart crumble, the thorns died out and now nothing was left but a revitalized heart surrounded by flowers and butterflies fluttering about.

he was alive.

he was happy

and he was still here.

the treasure could wait.


End file.
